Vehicle-wheel wrench and extension-handle assembly



.Q R wm wm n L. 9, ML 5y m5 Iwn 2mm d w Mh A ws w z w m o. W www. m N. a QM O J v Ea 2 Nm Am LE HH C N E R W L E E H w. E Z L HU I www A/v .OJ lwl E 7, j I- 1 4, w 2 F d m u M.

pril 24, 1951 H, H, LANE 2,549,910

VEHICLE-WHEEL WRENCH AND EXTENSION-HANDLE ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 17, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

Hou/ord 71. .LO/ne T TOR/VE V5.

Patented Apr. 24, 1951 vEnILE-.WHEEL WRENCH AND EXTEN- SIQN=HANDLE Howard Hinds Lane. Dearborn, Mieli assigner of' fifty per cent to Lloyd*l Lawson, Dearborn,

Mich.

Application February 1r, iria ser-iai No resse (o1. :a1-17e) 10 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a wrench and more particularly to a Wrenen useful for securing in Blaue or removing the nuts or lag screws wlnieli secure a vehicle wheel, suon as Yan automotive truck or trailer Wheel, to the h ub.

A. truels o1- trailer Wheel., in most eases. is oonsiderablv larger than a passenger vehicle wheel and the nuts or lag screws which seoure suon a wheel to the hun. tighten down in. operation and frequently rust in. positionleeause of this, considerable leverage o1' torque is required, to. loosen suoli a nut or lag screwv I .t is an object of this invention to produce a wrench assembly which gives the operator oonsiueralole leverage when used to secure the nuts or lagr serews in nlaoe or to remove tlnern,I and which can be easily disassembled and stored in a minimum of room.

Mv wrenelr ls of simple and rugged structure ariel economical. to manufaeturern the drawings:

Fig. l is an assembly plan view of. my wrench withthe Wrench in position for turning large diameter nuts or lag screws.

Fig. 2 is an assembly view of my wrench with the wrench in position for turning small diaml eter nuts or lag screws.

Fig. 3 is a right end View of either Figs. 1 or 2.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of; the three members which compose my wrench assembly.

lilig. 5 is a section along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 5 but showing the' wlfllh. shifted through the handle to a position for turning large nuts, such position being sho-wn in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a section taken along the line '1 -'I of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings (Fig. 4) it will be seen that my Wrench assembly comprises three main elements; namely, wrench I, handle 2 and key 3. Wrench I takes the form of a double ended socket Wrench comprising a cylindrical or rod-like body 4 having integral sockets 5 and 6 at its opposite ends. Sockets 5 and 6 are shown as conventional hexagonal sockets but can be made any shape to conform to the head of the lag screw, bolt, or nut which is to be operated thereby. Socket 6 has a large diameter than socket 5.

The wrench body 4 is provided preferably adjacent each socketed end with a pair of transverse openings 'I and 8 respectively. Openings I and 8, for descriptive purposes, are shown as cylindrical openings but can be elliptical or polygonal in cross-section if desired.

Handle 2 comprises an adapter body 9 and a handle I8. By way of illustration, adapter .body g, and handle lll4 are shown as two separate ele'- rnents but can be made integral. As shown, adapter body 9 is provided with an axial recess t I which one end of the tubular handle IIJ is seated and the two elements are iloined together by welding as at I2. lIplandle 2 is provided with an opening I?? which is traversed by stop pin I4, Axial opening I3 intersects a transverse opening I5. which., for purposes of description, is snown as evlinerioal to Conform to the cylindrical external'oonteur of .sookets 5 and 6. Obviously the; `contour of opening l5., will Correspond with, depend upon', the external. contour of sockets 5 and Q. Qne end of opening I5 is tapered or conical as at I6 to correspond with the conical surface Il of they larger socket portion` 6.

member 3 is in the form of a Gylindrical rod an outer end. I8 of which can be used as a lever handlelll/'hein not in use the parts will be disassembled shown in Fig. ri, and since each of the three me comprises in essence a cylindrical rod, it evident that they can be stored 'in a minimum of snaoe..

To. assemble the wrench for use, assuming that one des' esto use the large socket 6., then the small socket, l end. of tile wrench l isv inserted in transverse opening I5 and the axial opening I3 of the handle ll,v l!! is aligned with opening 1, in .socket portion 5.. With the ornenings thus aligned, lsev or rod 3 is slid into the opening I3, through its entrance end 2l) and passed through opening l in order to key handle 9', IU and wrench I together. An inner end 2| of key 3 abuts stop I4 so that preferably, but not necessarily, a `portion I8 of key 3 extends beyond entrance 20 in adapter body 9 and thus can be used as one of the lever handles.

If it is desired to use the small'wrench socket 5, Wrench I is slid through opening I5 until the conical portion I'I of socket 6 engages the taper I8 in opening I5, then transverse opening 8 in socket E is aligned with axial opening I3, and finally key 3 is passed through openings I3 and 8 in order to key the wrench to the handle 9, I0 in the same manner as previously described.

To disassemble the wrench, key 3 is removed from opening 'I or 8, Whichever the case may be, and opening I3, thus permitting the wrench I to be withdrawn from opening I5 and disassembled from the handle 9, Ill.

In actual practice I have found that by making handle 9, I8 about thirty inches long that my 3 wrench can be used to remove the lag Ascrews and nuts from the largest truck and trailer wheels now in commercial use with considerable ease and in some instances where the nut or lag screw is rested in place, the operator can stand on the wrench handle i9 or even jump on the same so that the torque applied by the socket wrench l is sucient to remove even the most diicult nuts and lag screws encountered in removing the heaviest of the truck and trailer wheels.

I claim:

l. The assembly comprising in combination a wrench, a removable handle having intersecting axial and transverse openings therein, said 'wrench having an opening therethrough and being insertable in the transverse opening in said handle so that the opening in the wrench is aligned with the axial opening in said handle, and a key member removably inserted in said axial opening in the handle and passed through the opening in said wrench in order to key the handle and wrench together.

2. The assembly claimed in claim 1 wherein the axial opening in the handle extends inwardly from one end or the handle.

3. The assembly claimed in claim 2 wherein the transverse opening in the handle extends cornpletely through the handle.

4. The assembly claimed in claim 3 wherein the wrench is provided with an enlarged end in the form of a socket having a diameter larger than the diameter of the transverse opening in the handle, and wherein the opening through the wrench is positioned adjacent said socket; whereby, when the wrench is inserted in said transverse opening so that the opening in the wrench aligns with the axial openings in the handle, the enlarged socketed head with abut the handle.

5. lThe assembly claimed in claim 4 wherein the Wrench is in the form of a cylindrical rod with a socket at each end, one socketed end of the wrench having a diameter greater than, and the other socketed end of the wrench having a diameter less than, the diameter of the transverse opening in the handle; whereby, when the small diameter end of the wrench is passed through the transverse opening until the large diameter end of the wrench abuts the handle, the opening in the wrench can be aligned with the axial opening in the handle.

6. The assembly comprising in combination a wrench, a removable handle having intersecting axial and transverse openings therein, said wrench having an opening therethrough and being insertable in the transverse opening in said handle so that the opening in the wrench is aligned with the axial opening in said handle, and a key member removably inserted in said axial opening in the handle and passed through the opening in said wrench in order to key the handle and wrench together, said axial opening extending inwardly from one end of said handle to provide an entrance for said key, a stop in said axial opening lagainst which the inserted end of said key abuts when the wrench, handle and key are assembled together, said transverse opening in the handle being positioned between the entrance end of said axial opening and said stop.

7. The assembly claimed in claim G wherein the axes of said axial and transverse openings are substantially perpendicular and wherein the axis of the opening through said wrench is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the wrench.

8. The assembly claimed in claim 7 wherein the key in assembled position projects beyond the end of said handle so that the outer end of the key serves as a lever handle.

9. The assembly claimed in claim 7 wherein the wrench is in the form of a cylindrical rod having a small diameter socket at one end and a large diameter socket at the other end, and wherein the wrench has two openings therethrough, one adjacent each socketed end, said openings selec tively receiving said removable key member.

10. The assembly claimed in claim 9 wherein the large socket end of the wrench has a larger diameter than the diameter of said transverse opening and the small diameter socket end of said wrench has a diam-eter less than the diameter of the transverse opening in the handle, the large diameter socket end of said wrench abutting the handle in one end of the transverse opening in order to assist in aligning the opening in the wrench with the axial opening in the handle.

HOWARD HINDS LANE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Toye May 31, 1949 

